


Everything But You

by radkoko



Category: Naruto
Genre: Amnesia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 07:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3801718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radkoko/pseuds/radkoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After helping a student Iruka has a little trouble remembering a few things, but Kakashi hopes to remedy that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything But You

_Iruka stared at the man, but it was the one thing he couldn't remember._

~~~

He'd been helping a student after school with their kekkei genkai, but they were inexperienced and it had caused some problems. Iruka knew this bloodline well, it was Ino's son, Inoichi, named after her father. The boy had just come into his classroom, and Iruka as always wanted to help any student that needed it. When Inoichi had stayed behind to ask about his kekkei genkai, Iruka was glad to help.

"How long did it take mom to master her kekkei genkai?" Inoichi asked nervously.

Iruka stood on the other side of the desk, kneeling down to look the boy in the eye. "Well she had gotten the basics down when she was about your age..." Iruka paused as he noticed the worry in the boy's eyes, "But if you want to know, she still learns new things every day. Even your mother knows that there is always more to learn. So don't worry if you are still learning it."

"How did you know?" Inoichi asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

Iruka wanted to laugh, but knew it might hurt the boy. "I've worked with many students between that first class that your mother was in and your class now. There are just some things a teacher knows."

Iruka ruffled the boy's hair. "You should probably head home before she starts to worry about you," Iruka suggested as he stood up to gather his own things.

"Umm Iruka-sensei?" Inoichi paused waiting for Iruka's attention. "Would you maybe be able to help me with my jutsu?"

"I think I can manage that, what do you need help with?"

"Well I need to be able to trade places with someone else's mind," he said, "I do it with mom all the time, but I think she helps me, I don't know how, but whenever I try on my own it doesn't..."

"Doesn't what?" Iruka asked curiously.

"Well I try it with animals so I don't really know what to expect, but it never is the same as with mom."

Iruka thought about the situation, wanting to help the boy, but unsure of how to make it as safe as possible.

Ignoring the battle waging in his head, Iruka went with his heart, that told him it was important to help in anyway he could.

Iruka sat down on the floor and invited the boy to sit down across from him.

"You can do the mind transfer without any troubles, correct?"

Inoichi nodded as he knelt across from Iruka.

"Ok, so I want you to do the mind transfer first. After it’s complete, go to my desk and grab the pencil that's sitting up there. Bring it back here and finish the jutsu." Iruka waited to get full confirmation for Inoichi. "I know it sounds simple and trivial, but your mind being familiar with my body will make the next jutsu better. It will also be safer for both of us to test with the known jutsu first."

Inoichi looked a little worried, but nodded his confirmation confidently.

Iruka took a deep breath as he sat still watching Inoichi perform the seals.

His mind went black, he could feel the secondary presence, but it wasn't fully intruding.

When he regained consciousness, he sat in the same spot he last remembered, but there between the two of them he saw the pencil from his desk. He couldn't help but smile at Inoichi.

"Did everything feel alright on your end?"

"Yes!" he said smiling happily.

Iruka paused while he thought about the best way to make the next jutsu simple. "For this one, we're both going to stay exactly where we are. You're going to do the full mind and body swap with me, we'll each ask a simple question...how about asking each other our names, it's easy and will guarantee that the jutsu has done its basic intent. We'll discuss anything further after that."

They both took a deep breath, and Iruka waited for the darkness.

He awoke in a body that felt foreign, but it wasn’t the only thing that wasn't quite right. When he heard the voice, it took him a few moments to realize it was a question.

"What?"

"What's your name?" The man across from him asked.

He was quiet for a moment; opening his mouth it just wouldn't come out. It sat there on the tip of his tongue, unwilling to articulate what he was sure he knew.

"I knew something wasn't right..." the man said as he saw darkness once again.

He felt a calm soothing energy at his forehead.

"Sensei, are you feeling better?" he heard a familiar female voice.

"Ino, why are you here?" he asked.

"Let's try something simpler first," she said, "do you remember your name?"

"Of course I do!" he stated indignantly, but noticed she was still waiting for him expectantly. "I'm Umino Iruka, chunin rank academy teacher, happy?"

"Yes," Ino replied as she helped Iruka sit upright. "Inoichi said that when he did the mind body swap that you couldn't even answer your name. I had to check."

"I remember waiting for him to swap us, but then I woke up to you."

Iruka could tell Ino was thinking intensely. "We should probably take you to the hospital to get checked out. There may be nothing wrong, but I'd feel better if we made sure."

Iruka wanted to protest, but he could see the genuine worry in both Ino and Inoichi's faces. "Okay let's go," he replied. Iruka quickly gathering his stuff before they left.

After they were well on their way, Ino couldn't keep her mouth shut. "Iruka sensei why did you let him talk you into practicing the mind swap justus? You should know better than anyone outside of our bloodline how dangerous it could be."

"And you should know just as well as any of my other students that I can't ignore a student in need. I helped you at his age, besides I tested his abilities with something easy first and it went perfectly fine."

Iruka glanced over at Ino knowing she wanted to say more, but she was holding back.

The rest of the walk was held in silence until they reached their destination.

Once checked in the three waited in an exam room, and after a few minutes Sakura walked in a little surprised to see the group in her room.

"Did I miss a reunion?" She teased.

"Not exactly," Ino said taking charge, "Inoichi asked Iruka to help him practice his mind body swap, and he agreed..." Both girls looked at Iruka before Ino continued, "As Iruka told me, they tested it with no problems, but when they got to the full mind body swap, Inoichi says Iruka couldn't remember anything. He swapped them back and was able to contact me. When he came to everything seemed fine, but I think he should be checked out."

Sakura nodded and started to examine Iruka. He was tired of not being believed that he was perfectly fine.

"We'll everything seems fine, do you feel alright Iruka-sensei?"

"Yes!" He was agitated, so he took a deep breath before continuing, "I feel perfectly fine, I have the whole time...but I know you guys are just worried." He looked at all of them smiling, "Can I go home then?"

"Just a moment, but soon," Sakura said returning the smile.

She disappeared for a moment, as Iruka watched Inoichi walk up to him. 

"I'm really sorry Iruka sensei, I shouldn't have asked you to do that for me."

"It's okay, it was my choice, but I think that next time if you're bothered by something you should talk to your mom about it."

Inoichi nodded fervently and was still waving as they said goodbye.

Iruka watched them leave, wondering why he was still just sitting there. Sure Sakura had said she’d be right back, but it'd been a long night and he just wanted to go home.

He picked up his things, about to open the door when he heard Sakura's voice. Iruka sighed dropping his stuff, and deciding to just go ahead and wait.

The door opened, Sakura on the other side smiling at Iruka. "So I know you probably aren't going to be happy, but I called someone to take you home." She said, opening the door further to reveal a shinobi at her side.

"Come on, lets go home Iruka," the man said holding a hand out to Iruka.

Iruka was sure he knew every shinobi in the village, but there was a blank spot in his memory when he tried to figure out who it was.

Iruka stared at the man, but it was the one thing he couldn't remember.

Sakura and the man stared at Iruka questioningly. 

"Is everything alright sensei?" Sakura asked as she walked closer to him.

"I don't know who he is..." Iruka replied, a little afraid to admit that there might have been something wrong with him.

He could tell that his confession wasn't good. The two looked at each other very worried.

"Let's start simple. This is Hatake Kakashi. He's the jounin that was the leader of Naruto, Sasuke, and my genin team. Does that ring any bells?" Sakura explained slowly.

"Oddly, no," Iruka replied confusing himself. "I know you guys had a jounin leader, but it's like it's been taken out of my memory. Just a blank spot there."

Sakura walked up to Iruka and he could feel her healing chakra probing his brain.

She stepped away from him and back to where she could look at both men. "Nothing seems to be specifically wrong. I'm not finding any blocks in your memory. So what I'm going to ask is that you go ahead and go home, you can remember everything else so it should be fine. Sleep tonight and see what you can remember in the morning. If there's still a blank spot in the morning come back and we'll get Ino to probe with her father's technique to see what got messed up."

Iruka nodded, picking up his stuff, as he was about to walk out.

"Would it be alright if I still escorted you home Iruka?" Kakashi asked him.

He was a little nervous about the missing block of information on the shinobi, but there was something that made him want to trust the man.

Iruka felt the questioning eyes on him as they walked out of the hospital. It was only after a few moments that he realized he wasn't the one leading the way.

"And you know where I live Kakashi?" Iruka asked casually.

When his question wasn't answered he looked at Kakashi who seemed to be nervously avoiding answering.

"I'm guessing we're at least friends, or Sakura wouldn't have gotten you to take me home," Iruka said, as if talking to himself.

"Yes," Kakashi responded to Iruka's musings.

Iruka looked at the other man, he knew almost nothing about. Kakashi almost looked pained, but there wasn't much he could tell with only a single eye visible.

When they reached Iruka's home he went searching through his satchel to find his keys. He'd barely delved into it when he heard keys to his side noticing the keys in Kakashi's hand. In an instant the door was open and Kakashi was still.

"I'm sorry, habits are hard to break," Kakashi said to Iruka as he waited for Iruka to step in first.

Iruka looked at him as he tried to put the pieces together. "So definitely more than acquaintances if you have a key to my place."

Kakashi followed Iruka inside, and closed the door. "I don't know if you're oblivious or purposefully ignoring the obvious," Kakashi murmured quietly enough as if he didn’t expect Iruka to hear.

Iruka sighed, "For one I could hear that, I'm a teacher...and I don't want to presume anything, I'm the one with the missing memory. It's better to observe than make guesses."

"Well, just know its not your place anymore, it's ours. And it has been for over two years now," Kakashi said bluntly as he walked towards the closet that Iruka knew held the spare sheets.

"I know what you're getting," Iruka was still trying to piece together what had been revealed. He could feel a tug at his heart underneath his confusion; this couldn’t be any easier on Kakashi. "I should sleep on the couch, I would for any other guest.” Iruka went to grab the sheets from Kakashi, taking over his duty as host. “It’s not quite fair, you’re already having to deal with me not being able to remember you, I wouldn’t make you sleep on the couch in your own home as well."

Iruka could have sworn he could see a smile under the mask the man wore.

"Kind to a fault as always Iruka, but really I think you'd feel the most out of sort being on the couch. As you can't remember I've been on more than enough missions to not mind the couch." Kakashi said as Iruka watched the twinkle in his eye when Kakashi spoke about him.

Iruka walked away and stepped into the bathroom, walking away from Kakashi's calls.

He quickly closed the door to stop Kakashi from following him. Iruka wasn't sure he could handle this, even for just a night. He was too empathetic and it hurt just knowing how much Kakashi was trying to not show his pain.

Iruka took a deep breath, looking at himself in the mirror. He wasn't sure what to do if this lasted more than a night. This relationship seemed serious and there wasn't a single thing he could remember of it.

How was he supposed to shoulder both of their feelings?

Iruka was pulled away from his thoughts when he heard the knock at the bathroom door.

"I won’t try to convince you to come out, but try not to be bothered by me." Kakashi's voice came through the door. "I can guess you are worried about my pain, but what you're not calculating into that over thinking is that no matter what I'm feeling, I'm more worried about you. So if you need me to leave you by yourself for the night to calm down and rest than I can do that."

Iruka couldn't stop the smile on his face from growing. It was still a bit of a sad one, but Kakashi seemed to know him a little too well.

He opened the door looking at Kakashi. "You know, I'm really wishing I could remember you right now, because you seem like a great man." Iruka paused, "I don't need you to leave, and although you were very much right about me over thinking. I'm also pretty sure that you are the key to my missing memories."

Iruka reached his hand out, pulling it back before it touched Kakashi's. He reached his hand out again grabbing Kakashi's, pulling them back into the living room, and sitting down on the couch.

"How about you tell me your favorite memory of us," Iruka said curious to see if a specific memory might help him.

Kakashi looked at him curiously, he seemed to be thinking very carefully about how to answer Iruka's question.

"Well I'm not sure it's my favorite, but most memorable should count."

Iruka sat listening to the set up, how some time ago he'd stood up to Kakashi on Naruto and team 7's behalf, afraid of their fate in the chunin exams. He remembered it fairly well, but just as before the blank spot stood where Kakashi was supposed to be. It continued though, onto a story he didn't know. He was told of the next time he stood up to Kakashi, and it was obvious from his story that this was the moment Kakashi fell in love.

After the story was finished Iruka was enthralled, and waited to hear more. He sat encouraging Kakashi to tell him more stories. He knew that even if he regained his memories that this was the moment he fell in love once again.

Iruka hadn't realized he had fallen asleep until he felt the movement. He was being carried to bed by Kakashi, with the utmost amount of care. Choosing to feign his sleep Iruka waited as Kakashi placed him on the bed. He was carefully tucked in, and a gentle kiss placed on his forehead before Kakashi left him alone.

He wavered in and out of sleep well into the night. When he awoke in the middle of the night he was disappointed to find that the important memories were still missing. Sure it still hadn't been a full nights rest, but he had desperately been hoping.

He got up from bed and found his way out to the couch. Iruka watched as Kakashi slept, treading lightly as he got closer, afraid to wake the shinobi.

Iruka knelt down, taking in the sleeping face of Kakashi. Sure, even in sleep there was only a small quarter of his face showing, but he could imagine the face beneath the mask somewhere in his lost memories, there was just enough to fill in the pieces.

Slowly he leaned in and gave a soft kiss to Kakashi's temple, almost as an apology for being unable to remember.

Kakashi was awake in an instant, looking into Iruka's eyes, hoping for a good answer, but the face he had said he knew otherwise.

"I'm sorry," was all Iruka could say.

"It's okay," Kakashi reassured him.

They stared at each other until Kakashi pulled down his mask and gave Iruka a kiss. To Iruka it was more, that simple kiss brought everything back to him, and his mind was filled with the moments that they shared.

Now he had something even more special, all of the old memories and the new moments of Kakashi that made him fall in love again.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the KakaIru Summer bingo in 2013. I was on team Hurt/Comfort since it's what I seem to be best at. Prompt was Amnesia.


End file.
